Paedophile victim speaks out about man who stole his childhood

John Sullivan, 64, of Ellesmere, has been jailed for five years. One of the victims says this is 'not long enough'

ONE of the victims of a convicted paedophile jailed for five years for horrific sex offences on young boys has spoken of how his life was destroyed by the sexual predator.

The man, who wishes to remain anonymous, broke his silence of his ordeal at the hands of “sick” pervert John Sullivan – saying “I was just a shy, small boy of seven years old and I have had to live with what he did to me all my life.”

Ellesmere man Sullivan, of New Cottages, was jailed for five years for historic charges of molesting young boys between the ages of six and 11 years old at Llangollen, dating back to the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Now one of his victims has spoken exclusively to the Advertizer of his experience of being “entrapped” into giving sexual acts by vile predator Sullivan.

He said that former factory manager Sullivan, now 64, befriended him, tricked him and then stole his innocence.

The victim said: “He tricked me into giving sexual acts and then gave gifts, sweets or money, but to suggest I or any of the other victims did it for money is hurtful. The truth is I was a shy boy of seven years old who didn’t know what was going on.

“He is a calculated, clever man who won the trust of people, including parents of young children like myself, but deep down he is a sick individual who needs help.

“I have done my best to bury what happened to the back of my mind, but whenever there is a trauma in my life his actions always come to the fore.

“I have gone through life finding it difficult to trust people, I am always wary of people and find it difficult to commit. I also suffer from anxiety.”

Mold Crown Court heard how Sullivan was aged between 18 and 23 when he molested the young boys, but went on to lead a respectable life as a factory manager and was married with three grown up sons.

But police knocked on his door earlier this year and he was arrested after a man, now in his 50s, disclosed to police what Sullivan had done to him as a child.

Simon Mills, prosecuting, told how Sullivan would use his motorcycles to attract young children to his garage and also how he indulged in a sex act upon himself and molested one boy in a park after taking him and his friends scrumping for apples.

Sullivan told police that there had been a complaint against him of indecency with a boy of 13 when he was in his 20s. Police found archived material which showed that he had admitted what he had done to the NSPCC, but gave a no comment interview to police and no proceedings were brought at the time because the boy and his parents would not make a formal complaint.

At court on Friday, July 25, Sullivan was put on the sex offender register for life and an indefinite Sexual Offences Prevention Order was made to curb his future activities.

He was sentenced to five years in prison under legislation in force at the time of the offending rather than today’s sentencing regime which would involve the rape of a child and far longer sentences.

The victim continued: “Five years is not long enough, he will probably be out in three. It is disgusting and I don’t feel as though justice has been done. The sentence should have been at least 10 years.

“In his mitigation it was said he has suffered ill-health, but what about me and the other victims? We have had to live with his actions forever. My health isn’t good either.”

Judge Philip Hughes said the offences occurred over a three to four year period and that the three victims were very young.

The victim said: “Too right we were affected. I owe a great deal to the other two victims for coming forward and telling the police what happened. I was in court on the day of sentencing but thankfully I didn’t have to give evidence as he admitted the charges against me.

“I would also like to say a massive thank you to North Wales Police for handling the case so well and being so thorough in their investigations.”

Sullivan admitted eight charges of indecency with a child and indecent assault.